Bella, a 7-year-old golden lab, was taken from a car parked at The Home Depot on Monday, March 11, 2013. Her Stratford family is using social media and posters to find her.

Bella, a 7-year-old golden lab, was taken from a car parked at The Home Depot on Monday, March 11, 2013. Her Stratford family is using social media and posters to find her.

Photo: Contributed

Image 2 of 4

Bella, a 7-year-old golden lab, was taken from a car parked at The Home Depot on Monday, March 11, 2013. Her Stratford family is using social media and posters to find her.

Bella, a 7-year-old golden lab, was taken from a car parked at The Home Depot on Monday, March 11, 2013. Her Stratford family is using social media and posters to find her.

Photo: Connecticut Post

Image 3 of 4

Bill Novotny stands next to his car in Stratford. On the side window is a poster offering a reward for the return of the family dog, Bella. The dog was taken from the parking lot of The Home Depot in Derby on Monday, March 11, 2013. less

Bill Novotny stands next to his car in Stratford. On the side window is a poster offering a reward for the return of the family dog, Bella. The dog was taken from the parking lot of The Home Depot in Derby on ... more

Photo: Connecticut Post

Image 4 of 4

Dognapping goes viral on Facebook

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

Saturday afternoon, Bill Novotny took a break fixing his daughter's kitchen in Milford and stepped outside.

He reached into his Ford sedan, pulling out photos of Bella, his 7-year-old yellow Labrador retriever.

Such a sweet dog, he said. Enjoys wearing bandanas, and antlers at Christmas. Her older brother had more pluck. But he recently died of cancer. He wouldn't have let it happen without a fight.

But Bella doesn't have a mean bone in her body. "I'm starting to lose hope," he said. "She's an inside dog."

That morning, Novotny, an employee of Tyco Electronics Corp., was working at Sikorsky Memorial Airport. His wife put Bella in the Mercedes. She had maybe a half-hour to spare, so she stopped by Home Depot to look at paint chips. She parked far from the store, cracked open the window and hoped Bella wouldn't get scared.

When she got back minutes later, Bella was gone.

First, she thought Bella escaped. She searched the area. Then she called her husband. They thought a moment. The door was still shut, the window cracked open. Then they found her bandana and two choke collars, unhooked, under the front seat.

"Now the dog's good," Novotny said. "But she ain't that good."

Looking for help

The signs went up Tuesday. Their daughter posted on the Internet.

"I said, `That's never gonna work,'" Novotny said.

But it's kept his hopes up. By Saturday, well over 2,000 people had shared Stratford Animal Control's Facebook post about Bella. Novotny has fielded calls from as far away as Maine, Virginia and Ohio. People were looking for her. That much warmed his heart.

He rushed to the local animal shelters, but couldn't find her. He scrutinized seven hours of security footage with Home Depot's regional manager. They saw a few shady figures tooling around by the car, said Bill, but he wouldn't elaborate. Saturday morning, he met with the Derby Police.

"What can I say?" he sympathized. "I've done that a hundred times."

It was 36 degrees and dropping. Thick clouds swirled overhead. Moments later, it started snowing.

Lesson learned

Three months ago, the Novotnys moved to Stratford from Woodbridge.

The other day, someone guessed Bella might find her way back to their old home. Novotny hopes not. There's too much highway involved.

For now, he's got the same sign taped to his Ford that's hanging all over several towns:

Across the street, in someone else's yard, there's a "Beware of dog" sign tacked to a tree. Next door to that, there's a bulldog staring outside. A woman speedwalking up the block has a frisky brown dog padding beside her.

"The lesson learned is that those microchips the vets have only cost about $29 to $40," said Novotny. "If you have a dog and you care for it, you gotta do that."